CCOM Symposium to Examine ‘Communicating Differences’

Famed documentary producer and MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” recipient Stanley Nelson, BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman, and Madden NFL play-by-play announcer Brandon Gaudin will be among the speakers at the fourth annual Butler University College of Communication Symposium, February 20-21 and 23, and February 27-March 2.

Admission to all events is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.butler.edu/ccomsymposium or call (317) 940-6308.

Stanley Nelson Jr.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Communicating Difference,” which, according to College of Communication Dean Gary Edgerton, “emphasizes our college’s abiding commitment to seeking understanding, building bridges, and promoting inclusivity through hosting a talented and diverse group of scholars, filmmakers, sports figures, musicians, journalists, storytellers, and radio personalities.”

Events begin Monday, February 20, at 7:00 PM in the Schrott Center for the Arts with producer-director Andrew Cohn for a screening of his new documentary, Night School, which follows three adult learners from Indianapolis as they attempt to earn their high school diplomas. The students, Gregory Henson, Shynika Jakes, and Melissa Lewis, also will be on hand.

Stanley Nelson, whose films include Freedom Riders, Wounded Knee, and Jonestown: The Life & Death of People’s Temple (2006), will deliver the annual Howard L. Schrott Lecture, and host a screening and question-and-answer session, on Tuesday, February 21, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Schrott Center.

Val Ackerman

Ackerman and Gaudin ’06 will complete the first week’s events on Thursday, February 23—Ackerman during a luncheon and talk on “Women in Sports” from noon to 2:00 PM and Gaudin on his transition from being a broadcast journalism major at Butler a decade ago to national sportscaster from 6:00-8:00 in the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall.

The second week will feature:

-Jane Ward, Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside, speaking on “Not Gay: The Homosexual Ingredient in the Making of Straight White Men,” Monday, February 27, at 5:00 PM in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom.

Brandon Gaudin

-Jason Ricci, the vocalist and harmonica player, will perform with his blues band, the Bad Kind, on Monday, February 27, at 7:00 PM in the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall.

-Jen Christensen ’94, CNN producer, speaking on “Diversity in the Media is Important, But It Is Not Enough,” on Tuesday, February 28, at 5:00 PM in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom.

-David Thorpe, documentary filmmaker, Do I Sound Gay? A Film Exploring Identity, Tuesday, February 28, at 7:00 PM, in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom.

Wendi Thomas

-Wendi Thomas ’93, journalist, speaking on “Finding a Place for Justice in Journalism,” Wednesday, March 1, at 6:00 PM in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom.

-Sally Perkins, storyteller, presenting her one-woman performance, “Keeping Hinkle, Hinkle,” Thursday, March 2, at 5:00 PM in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom.

-Martha Barnette, co-host of the public-radio show A Way with Words, speaking on “Do You Hear What I Hear? Workplace Diversity and the English Language,” Thursday, March 2, at 7:00 PM in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822

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